JP2014186452A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device that enables a user to use functions other than a wireless communication function while performing power saving operation of a wireless communication device.SOLUTION: An information processing device comprising a wireless communication unit 14 wirelessly communicating with a partner communication device 20 as one of a plurality of functional units further comprises a power management unit 114 that interrupts only power supply to some of the functional units including at least the wireless communication unit 14 when a non-connection state between the wireless communication unit 14 and the partner communication device 20 continues for a certain period of time.

Description

  The present invention relates to a power management technique for an information processing apparatus having a wireless communication function.

  Currently, mobile terminals such as smartphones and PDAs and car navigation devices are often equipped with a wireless communication function using Bluetooth (registered trademark) or the like. Wireless communication technology is a convenient technology that can communicate with peripheral devices without cables, but consumes a large amount of current to transmit and receive radio waves. For this reason, in particular, in mobile terminals, the inconvenience that the battery is quickly consumed is a problem, and power saving of the wireless communication function has been demanded. In addition, in vehicles equipped with a relatively large battery, the demand for power saving of the wireless communication function is expected to increase with the spread of electric vehicles.

  One method for reducing the power consumption of the wireless communication function is to switch the user on and off by manual operation. However, it is troublesome for the user to frequently switch on and off, and it is easy to forget. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a method of automatically controlling power feeding to the display unit of the wireless telephone device in conjunction with the wireless communication state. In the wireless telephone device of Patent Document 1, when a certain period of time elapses without an incoming call and key input in the power-on state, power supply to the display unit is automatically cut off, and the power switch is turned on. When there is an incoming call or key input in a state where the power supply to the display unit is cut off, the power supply for the display drive is resumed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-205927

  However, if the power supply to the display unit itself is stopped when wireless communication is not performed as in the wireless telephone device of Patent Document 1, the user cannot see the display on the display unit, and the convenience is impaired. There is a problem.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that allows a user to use functions other than the wireless communication function while performing a power saving operation of the wireless communication device.

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention includes a wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a counterpart communication device as one of a plurality of functional units, and performs wireless communication when a non-connection state between the radio communication unit and the counterpart communication device continues for a certain period. A power management unit that cuts off only power supply to a part of the functional unit including at least the unit.

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention includes a wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a counterpart communication device as one of a plurality of functional units, and performs wireless communication when a non-connection state between the radio communication unit and the counterpart communication device continues for a certain period. A power management unit that cuts off only power supply to a part of the functional unit including at least the unit. Therefore, even during the power saving operation according to the wireless communication state, since power is continuously supplied to the predetermined function unit other than the wireless communication unit, the user can use these functions. The convenience of both.

It is a figure explaining the sleep process of a car navigation apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a car navigation apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a display transition of a car navigation apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a car navigation apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state transition of the radio | wireless communication part of a car navigation apparatus. It is a figure explaining the sleep process of the car navigation apparatus of a base technology. It is a figure which shows the example of a display transition of the car navigation apparatus of base technology.

<A. Prerequisite technology>
In this specification, as an application example of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, a car navigation apparatus including a display unit and a wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a counterpart communication device will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display state at the time of the sleep process of the car navigation device which is a prerequisite technology of the present invention. When the non-connected state continues for a certain period in the wireless communication unit, the car navigation device transitions to a sleep state for the purpose of suppressing power consumption. In the sleep state, power consumption is reduced by stopping power feeding to the display unit among the functional units of the car navigation device. Therefore, nothing is displayed on the screen.

  The car navigation device of the base technology displays a communication state with a communication partner such as another wireless communication device as an icon (hereinafter referred to as a wireless communication state icon) on the screen. FIG. 7 shows a display transition example of the wireless communication state icon. When the communication device is turned on and connected to the communication partner, the wireless communication status icon is displayed as a black ellipse. When the connection with the communication partner is disconnected while the power of the communication device is on, the display color of the wireless communication state icon changes from black to white. Thereafter, when the non-connection state with the wireless communication partner continues for a certain period, the car navigation device transitions to the sleep state. In the sleep state, power supply to the communication device and the display unit is stopped, and the communication function is turned off. Therefore, nothing is displayed on the screen. In this specification, “communication function off” means that the software function on the main CPU that executes software related to the communication function is stopped. Next, for example, when the communication function is turned on in response to a user operation input, the wireless communication state icon is displayed in a white oval shape. Thereafter, when the connection with the communication partner is started, the display color of the icon changes from white to black. From the display state of the wireless communication state icon shown above, the user can grasp the wireless communication state of the car navigation device.

  The car navigation device of the base technology is inconvenient for the user because it transitions to the sleep state in which the power supply not only to the communication device but also to the display and the drive unit of the display is stopped if the wireless communication disconnected state continues for a certain period. There's a problem. Although it is possible to recover from the sleep state by a user operation, it is troublesome for the user. In addition, it is inconvenient for the user who is driving the vehicle using the navigation function of the car navigation device to dismiss the map display, and it may not be possible to perform an operation for recovering from the sleep state while driving the vehicle. Many are also expected.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention stops power supply to the wireless communication unit and maintains power supply to other predetermined function units when the wireless communication is not connected for a certain period. To do. This enables the user to continue to use the functions of other information processing apparatuses including the display unit while performing the power saving operation of the information processing apparatus.

<B. Embodiment 1>
In the first embodiment, a car navigation device that is an example of an information processing device of the present invention will be described.

<B-1. Configuration>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the car navigation apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. The car navigation device 10 includes a control unit 11, a display unit 12, a voice input / output unit 13, a wireless communication unit 14, a storage unit 15, and an operation reception unit 16.

  The display unit 12 and the voice input / output unit 13 are examples of functions other than the wireless communication unit 14 in the car navigation device 10. The display unit 12 is configured by a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays an operation screen and an operation screen of each function of the car navigation device 10 and an icon indicating a wireless communication state of the wireless communication unit 14 (hereinafter, wireless communication state icon). The voice input / output unit 13 includes a microphone, a speaker, and the like.

  The wireless communication unit 14 includes a wireless communication device and performs wireless communication with the counterpart communication device 20. The standard is, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

  The storage unit 15 is configured by a storage medium such as a memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores wireless communication state transition information in the wireless communication unit 14.

  The operation receiving unit 16 is a part that receives an operation from the outside of the car navigation device 10, for example, a user operation. The operation receiving unit 16 may be configured integrally with the display unit 12 by a touch panel.

  The control unit 11 includes a main CPU, and controls each unit of the car navigation device 10. The control unit 11 includes a display control unit 111, a wireless communication control unit 112, a voice control unit 113, and a power management unit 114. The display control unit 111 controls display on the display unit 12. The wireless communication control unit 112 controls wireless communication of the wireless communication unit 14 with reference to the transition information stored in the storage unit 15. The voice control unit 113 controls the voice input / output unit 13. The power management unit 114 controls power feeding to the wireless communication unit 14 in response to an instruction from the wireless communication control unit 112.

<B-2. Operation>
FIG. 3 shows a display transition example of the wireless communication state icon in the car navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment. When the power of the wireless communication unit 14 is on and connected to the partner communication device 20, the wireless communication state icon is displayed as a black ellipse. When the connection with the partner communication device 20 is disconnected while the power of the wireless communication unit 14 is on, the display color of the wireless communication state icon changes from black to white. After that, when the disconnected state with the counterpart communication device 20 continues for a certain period, the car navigation device 10 transitions to the sleep state with the communication function turned on, that is, the software related to the wireless communication executed by the wireless communication control unit 112 is turned on. To do.

  In the sleep state in the car navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment, power supply to the wireless communication unit 14 is stopped, but power supply to other functional units including the display unit 12 is continued. Different from the navigation device. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1, the route guidance display, the map display, and the like continue even in the sleep state, and the inconvenience that the user cannot see these displays can be avoided.

  In the sleep state, the elliptical wireless communication state icon is displayed with a dotted line. The user can recognize that the car navigation apparatus 10 is in the sleep state by looking at this display. Furthermore, the user can also return the car navigation device 10 from the sleep state by a display operation (sleep release operation) of touching the wireless communication state icon on the screen. In this case, a signal indicating that the user operation has been performed is input from the operation reception unit 16 to the wireless communication control unit 112, and the wireless communication control unit 112 supplies power to the power management unit 114 based on the signal. Instruct to resume.

  If the return operation from the user is not performed for a certain period in the sleep state, the communication function is turned off.

  In this state, when power supply to the wireless communication unit 14 is resumed in response to a user operation input or the like and the communication function is turned on, the wireless communication state icon is displayed in a white oval shape. Thereafter, when the connection with the counterpart communication device 20 is started, the display color of the icon changes from white to black.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation after power-on of the car navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment. When the power is turned on, the wireless communication control unit 112 determines whether or not the wireless communication function is on (step S1). If the wireless communication function is off, it waits until the wireless communication function is turned on. For example, on / off switching of the wireless communication function is performed by a user operation. When the user inputs an operation to turn on the wireless communication function to the operation receiving unit 16, the input is sent to the wireless communication control unit 112, and the wireless communication control unit 112 issues a timer (step S2). The wireless communication control unit 112 counts the time since the timer is issued, and determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed (timeout) (step S3). When a time-out occurs (Yes in step S3), power supply to the wireless communication unit 14 is stopped and a sleep state is entered (step S4). Here, the wireless communication function is kept on. Thereafter, if there is a user's sleep release operation (Yes in step S5), power supply to the wireless communication unit 14 is resumed (step S6). If there is no sleep release operation and a timeout occurs, that is, if the sleep state continues for a certain time (Yes in step S7), the wireless communication function is turned off and the icon display process on the display unit 12 is stopped (step S8). Then, it returns to step S1. If there is no sleep release operation in step S5, the wireless communication function is not turned off due to a timeout, but the wireless communication function is turned off in response to a user operation for turning off the wireless communication function within a predetermined period. Also good.

  If the time-out has not occurred in step S3, it is determined whether or not the wireless communication unit 14 is connected to the counterpart communication device 20 (step S9). If not connected to the partner communication device 20, the process returns to step S3. If it is connected to the partner communication device 20, it waits until the connection is cut off, and if it is cut off (Yes in step S10), it returns to step S1.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing state transitions related to the wireless communication state of the car navigation device 10 (hereinafter referred to as a state transition table). The first row of the state transition table indicates the wireless communication state of the wireless communication unit 14 or the wireless communication control unit 112. “2. Sleep” indicates that the communication function is on and the power of the wireless communication unit 14 is off. In addition, “3. Non-connection” and “4. Connection” indicate cases where the power of the wireless communication unit 14 is on. The state transition table shows the transition of the wireless communication state when the event shown in the first column occurs in the wireless communication state shown in the first row. For example, when the wireless communication unit 14 is in the state of “3. No connection” and an event of “Power off” occurs, the car navigation device 10 makes a state transition to “1. Communication function off”.

  The state transition table shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the storage unit 15, and the wireless communication control unit 112 acquires the state transition table from the storage unit 15 and appropriately controls the wireless communication state.

<B-3. Modification>
The car navigation device 10 maintains the convenience of the user even in the sleep state by maintaining the power supply to the function unit that executes a function that is highly necessary for the user even in the sleep state. In the above description, the power supply only to the wireless communication unit 14 is stopped. However, the power supply to any function unit that does not greatly affect the convenience of the user in addition to the wireless communication unit 14 may be stopped together.

  The display unit 102 is an example of functions other than the wireless communication unit 14 of the car navigation device 10. The power supply to any function other than the wireless communication unit 14 that is assumed to be continuously used by the user may be maintained even in the sleep state, and the power supply to the display unit 102 may be stopped in the sleep state. good. In that case, for example, using the voice input / output unit 13, the user can input a return operation from the sleep state to the car navigation apparatus 10 by voice input.

  Moreover, although the car navigation apparatus 10 has been described as an example of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the information processing apparatus of the present invention is another information having a wireless communication function and other functions, such as a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a PDA. It may be a processing device.

<B-4. Effect>
The information processing apparatus of the present invention includes a wireless communication unit 14 that performs wireless communication with a counterpart communication device as one of a plurality of functional units, and the non-connected state between the radio communication unit 14 and the counterpart communication device 20 continues for a certain period. Transition to the sleep state. Since the power management unit 114 blocks only power supply to a part of the functional units including at least the wireless communication unit 14 in the sleep state, the power of the wireless communication unit 14 is saved according to the wireless communication state. At the same time, since the user can continue to use any other function of the information processing apparatus, power saving control is performed without impairing convenience.

  In the sleep state, the power supply to the display unit 12 is continued, and the display unit 12 is notified by the wireless communication state icon that the power supply to the wireless communication unit 14 is interrupted. Therefore, even in the sleep state, it is possible to continue the map display, the route guidance display, and the like on the display unit 12, so that it is possible to perform the power saving control without impairing the convenience for the user. Furthermore, the user can grasp from the wireless communication state icon that the user is in a sleep state in which the power supply to the wireless communication unit 14 is interrupted. When the display unit 12 is configured with a touch panel, the wireless communication state icon may be touched to return from the sleep state, and the user can turn on the wireless communication unit as necessary. It is possible to turn it on.

  In the sleep state, when the operation reception unit 16 detects a touch operation on the wireless communication state icon, the power management unit 114 resumes power supply to the wireless communication unit 14. Thus, the user can return the information processing apparatus from the sleep state with a simple operation.

  Note that when the information processing apparatus of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle such as an electric vehicle (EV) in which power saving is particularly required, power saving control can be performed without impairing user convenience. The effect of the present invention that it can be produced.

  In addition, when the information processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a car navigation apparatus having a navigation function as one of function units, a map display or display can be performed by continuing power supply to the display unit 12 even in a sleep state. Screen display of a navigation function such as route display can be continued on the display unit 12 even in the sleep state, and power saving control can be performed without impairing user convenience.

  In the present invention, the embodiments can be appropriately modified and omitted within the scope of the invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Car navigation apparatus, 11 Control part, 12 Display part, 13 Voice input / output part, 14 Wireless communication part, 15 Storage part, 16 Operation reception part, 20 Opposite communication device, 111 Display control part, 112 Wireless communication control part, 113 Voice control unit, 114 Power management unit.

Claims (5)

An information processing apparatus including a wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a counterpart communication device as one of a plurality of functional units,
When a non-connection state between the wireless communication unit and the counterpart communication device continues for a certain period, the wireless communication unit further includes a power management unit that cuts off only power supply to a part of the functional unit including at least the wireless communication unit,
Information processing device. A display unit is provided as one of the functional units,
The power management unit only supplies power to a part of the functional unit other than the display unit including at least the wireless communication unit when a non-connection state between the wireless communication unit and the counterpart communication device continues for a certain period. Shut off,
When the power management unit cuts off the power supply to the wireless communication unit, an icon for notifying the state is displayed on the display unit.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An operation detection unit for detecting a touch operation on the icon;
When the operation detection unit detects a touch operation on the icon, the power management unit resumes power supply to the wireless communication unit.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, which is mounted on a vehicle. A navigation function is provided as one of the functional units.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.

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